FUNimation DBZ TV Blu-ray Official On-Going Thread

[NeoKING]

Obviously people are entitled to their own opinions, but giving the sub a C but the dub a B? Saying the English screams are better than the Japanese? I get that they enjoy the "charm" of the dub, but it should be left at that. To go as far as to say it's superior is insulting. I would think that a website centered around reviewing anime would even be borderline weaboo, but this seems to be the opposite.

If people are entitled to their own opinions, then you can't say "but, he just said his own opinion!" which is basically what you did here. As far as I see it, the reviewers aren't really people who make objective calls upon the quality of the series' adaption. He/she's just another fan, just like you and I. I could've said the same exact review here and sparked the same discussion, and I doubt it'd change anyone elses opinion.

What I'm trying to say is . . . We all know how many times DBZ has been released, we all know how the sub and dub is, so at most all we should care about is the blu-ray release itself. Why this review about the sub/dub has anyone riled is beyond me, *shrugs*.

[FNF]

That review was awful. In terms of actual quality, the original Japanese voices trump any English dub (even the Kai dub which I really enjoy). I thought it was a no-brainer but apparently overly-nostalgic people like the reviewer are blind to this.

This is a all coming from someone who grew up with the Ocean/Funimation dubs folks.

[samuraix123]

I don't understand why people fight over Sub vs Dub? I love both of them And it seems like all it does is divide the fan base even more.

[VegettoEX]

People keep saying the review was "awful". Why? What was terrible about it?

While I agree with you from a writing perspective, everything I'm reading in response so far could easily just be classified away as, "They don't agree with the review, so they're just saying it's terrible."

[penguintruth]

Well, first of all, the review says the dub is "unfaithful" but praises it. And it says that Sean Schemmel outclasses Masako Nozawa but not why.

[dbboxkaifan]

I don't understand why people fight over Sub vs Dub? I love both of them And it seems like all it does is divide the fan base even more.

FUNimation's DBZ Dub is full of flaws, but if it were alike DBZ Kai English dub, it would've been different, for the better.

That 9000 meme crap is really irritating (got fixed on DBZ Kai - 8000).

Penguin @ Maybe because Schemmel has a "manly" voice for Son Goku, but Goku's not all like that.

[samuraix123]

Eh I like it and that's all that matters. And I agree about the over 9000! stuff. But I think we should all get back on track with the Blu-Rays. VegettoEX has warned us enough times. And beside don't let someone else's opinion get to you.

[batistabus]

If people are entitled to their own opinions, then you can't say "but, he just said his own opinion!" which is basically what you did here. As far as I see it, the reviewers aren't really people who make objective calls upon the quality of the series' adaption. He/she's just another fan, just like you and I. I could've said the same exact review here and sparked the same discussion, and I doubt it'd change anyone elses opinion.

It just seems contradictory and insulting to the original source material for reasons that have already been stated. The way things are written at parts seem to be inflammatory. Maybe the reviewer did that intentionally for the purpose of trolling and to be a legitimate testimony to dub superiority, and that seems childish. Maybe some of the responses, including mine, have also been childish and reactionary, but we're not professional reviewers. More people are going to be swayed by that review than some seemingly butt-hurt Japanofiles.

Again, I want FUNimation to keep going in the direction they have been going recently, and that's why this review matters to me.

[FNF]

People keep saying the review was "awful". Why? What was terrible about it?

While I agree with you from a writing perspective, everything I'm reading in response so far could easily just be classified away as, "They don't agree with the review, so they're just saying it's terrible."

So if someone reviewed Dragonball Evolution and gave it a 10/10 for no good reason, you wouldn't call it awful?

[VegettoEX]

This isn't about me. This is about you folks, the ones calling the review awful, having to justify and explain WHY you think it was awful.

If an eight-year-old reviewed DragonBall Evolution the way an eight-year-old would and explained all the reasons they thought it was spectacular and how it totally deserves a 10 out of 10... no, I would have no qualms with that review, and wouldn't call it "terrible" or "awful".

But that's not the case here. This is someone who theoretically got paid to write a review for a professional website, and if you're going to critique it on this community, I'd ask that you do so with genuine critique. Blanket statements aren't going to cut it here.

[Craddle]

everything I'm reading in response so far could easily just be classified away as, "They don't agree with the review, so they're just saying it's terrible."

Misinformation.

"The thing is, if you own, say, the Dragon Box sets, you already have all of the audio options."

This is someone who theoretically got paid to write a review for a professional website

Looks pretty unprofessional to me, if they can't even get basic facts correct.

[ShinRogafuken]

This is someone who theoretically got paid to write a review for a professional website, and if you're going to critique it on this community, I'd ask that you do so with genuine critique. Blanket statements aren't going to cut it here.

Err...from what I've seen, many of the people here who've been criticizing the review have given genuine critique and have included supporting details as to why they think what they do about the review.

[VegettoEX]

It's getting there . A little bit of cattle-prodding helps, it seems .

[KiddoCabbusses]

This isn't about me. This is about you folks, the ones calling the review awful, having to justify and explain WHY you think it was awful.

If an eight-year-old reviewed DragonBall Evolution the way and eight-year-old would and explained all the reasons they thought it was spectacular and how it totally deserves a 10 out of 10... no, I would have no qualms with that review, and wouldn't call it "terrible" or "awful".

But that's not the case here. This is someone who theoretically got paid to write a review for a professional website, and if you're going to critique it on this community, I'd ask that you do so with genuine critique. Blanket statements aren't going to cut it here.

Honestly guys, I think he's right here. Therefore, I will read the review myself and attempt to find things wrong with it.

1) Terms like "manly bashing" and "fetishized manliness" sound like a bizarre fixation on appealing to the "masculine" traits of the show.

2) His rant about the Blu-Ray remastering being "unnecessary" may as well apply to ANY media that predates the HD era. This is not something to spend a paragraph putting points down on the Z Blu-Rays specifically for. What do other Anime Film Remasters on Blu-Ray get in terms of score ratings on ANN?

3) The reviewer implies that he enjoys the dub track specifically for it's unfaithfulness to the source material. In light of how much of the review goes this is confusing as heck.

4) "The thing is, if you own, say, the Dragon Box sets, you already have all of the audio options" is factually false. It's also self-contradicting on his preference to the "Dub track" if he doesn't even realize this.

5) The reviewer states that Kai is the better show in spite of it missing the entire Buu arc, having crappily drawn digital animation, and somehow still having more filler than necessary (add 3 and you end up with something that sounds confusing and self-contradictory)

6) The reviewer does not go into any details about the extras besides loosely mentioning the remastering documentary in the video paragraph and "there's no booklet here" line in comparison to the DBoxes. His subjective opinion is not backed up any further than his apparent desire for physical books.

7) Making an "Average" out of two different music scores is just really freakin' screwy. Just pick the better score and go with that grade! To clarify this: It's almost like saying "If this only had the superior soundtrack it would've gotten a higher grade, but no! It HAD to have that blasted other one as an option as well! Damnit, I hate options!"

[Craddle]

1) Terms like "manly bashing" and "fetishized manliness" sound like a bizarre fixation on appealing to the "masculine" traits of the show.

2) His rant about the Blu-Ray remastering being "unnecessary" may as well apply to ANY media that predates the HD era. This is not something to spend a paragraph putting points down on the Z Blu-Rays specifically for. What do other Anime Film Remasters on Blu-Ray get in terms of score ratings on ANN?

3) The reviewer implies that he enjoys the dub track specifically for it's unfaithfulness to the source material. In light of how much of the review goes this is confusing as heck.

4) "The thing is, if you own, say, the Dragon Box sets, you already have all of the audio options" is factually false. It's also self-contradicting on his preference to the "Dub track" if he doesn't even realize this.

5) The reviewer states that Kai is the better show in spite of it missing the entire Buu arc, having crappily drawn digital animation, and somehow still having more filler than necessary (add 3 and you end up with something that sounds confusing and self-contradictory)

4 and 5 were my main points at disliking the review. I've already commented on 4, but 5 is where they end the review. Basically stating to not even bother with buying this and just buy Kai. (In not so many words.)

Contradicting ones self is a deal breaker on getting anyone with basic knowledge of the series to take them seriously. And it's not like they did it once by mistake. It's multiple times.

[Levlik]

I don't know about anybody else, but does anybody else find that last little bit at the end about how the show "has already been released fifty times before" a bit unprofessional? That's my biggest problem with the review. It's like complaining about, I don't know, any other movie on Blu-Ray or even DVD. Well, Star Wars has been released on Betamax and VHS and Laserdisc fifty times before. Is that even something to note when reviewing a product? How does that effect the quality of whatever you're reviewing at the moment by any means? Yes, it's been released before, that's why a review that compares the two is helpful; the fact that something has been released several times before shouldn't be any kind of negative factor.

I wouldn't have any problem if it ended with something like "...and doesn't have enough substantial improvements to justify an upgrade". I wouldn't agree with that, but it's definitely an opinion that would belong in the negative section. Just leaving it at "It's been released before" doesn't make any sense.

[VegettoEX]

I dunno. Every time I review a FUNimation release with the Raditz episodes, I put a picture up top with all of them piled on top of each other and note how many times it's been re-released and how they relate to each other and what the pros/cons of this latest version are.

There's a way to say it. Hopefully I do it well. That's why you're here, right?

[monster]

I didn't even know ANN still existed, that site must be ancient.

The reviewer Carl Kimlinger seems infamous for his C+ review for Death Note and I found this hilariously cliched quote from him about Gundam 00 "its political flavour [...] is distinctly post-9/11".So take from that what you will.

He also seems to be a huge fan of Eden of the East a show in which one of the female heroes cuts off penises for her enjoyment, so I could see this guy not liking something like DBZ with it's masculine themes and testosterone fueled action.

Anyway it's just a review guys, out there is someone that hates everything you love and loves everything you hate.Everyone has an opinion.

[Levlik]

I dunno. Every time I review a FUNimation release with the Raditz episodes, I put a picture up top with all of them piled on top of each other and note how many times it's been re-released and how they relate to each other and what the pros/cons of this latest version are.

There's a way to say it. Hopefully I do it well. That's why you're here, right?

Exactly! That's what I like to see in a Blu-Ray review. I don't need an overview of the episodes on the discs or the audio options which are exactly similar to the ones on the Orange Brick. I simply want to know how this differs from previous releases, positively or negatively. That's where this review suffers. It doesn't tell -- or worse, show -- me that. All we get is a small blurb about how if you have the Dragon Boxes, it's not worth the upgrade, but doesn't go into explicit detail. For the most part it tells me everything I already knew before I even knew the BDs existed. To me, that's a poor review of any media. It's like on Amazon when I want to see a review of a specific DVD release, I want to see reviews that tell me how much better or worse it is than other releases, not a movie review. Or worse, video game re-releases in which the reviewer critiques the game as if it were brand new today instead of telling me the details about the port.

I dunno, just a pet peeve I guess. Maybe I'm spoiled from knowing so much about the releases and seeing that this review takes so long to cut to the chase and tell me about the BD's quality specifically, it's just a bit irritating. In any case, yes, you do it well, haha.

[Pokewhiz7]

Why do people get mad over rereleases? I really don't understand. A cliched argument, yes, but...just don't buy them! If you're happy with the Dragon Boxes and don't want to/can't spend the money on another edition of the series, don't, but that doesn't make this any less of a product.